Bendigo Spirit captain Kelsey Griffin is not concerned by her side's slow start to the Women's National Basketball League season.
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The Spirit have a 0-2 record ahead of road games against the unbeaten Perth on Friday night and Melbourne Boomers on Sunday afternoon.
After missing the opening two rounds because of a hamstring injury, Griffin will make her season debut against the Boomers on Sunday.
"It's been tough, but it was a great learning opportunity for me and the team,'' Griffin said.
"Early losses aren't necessarily a bad thing and that's coming from someone that really dislikes losing.
"Early success can potentially cover up some areas of deficiency. Losing a couple of close games definitely sucks, but when you do lose you tend to look at yourself and the team more critically which gives you more room for improvement in the long run.
"It's not overreacting to the losses, but being able to look at them as really great learning opportunities."
Griffin is no stranger to hamstring injuries, so Sunday's comeback game does come with a sense of trepidation.
"Coming off any injury there's always some nerves, but I'm feeling stronger,'' she said.
"It can be a mental battle rather than a physical battle. I got through a full training session and I felt really good with the group.
"Ideally, I'd be over in Perth and I'd get a few more team sessions with the group, but I've got to trust my 20 years of experience that one session isn't going to make a difference to what impact I have on Sunday.
"I have to appreciate that this season is a marathon not a sprint. I think it's important that I don't try to overthink it or do too much on Sunday and just let the game come to me."
The addition of imports Mehryn Kraker and Ruth Davis gives the Spirit a different look this season, particularly offensively.
Griffin is happy to play whatever role coach Kennedy Kereama requires to maximise the Spirit's chances of winning.
"If we have five or six players scoring in double-figures we'll be playing our brand of basketball,'' Griffin said.
"When you rely on one or two players to do all the scoring you become quite predictable. I'm hoping we're going to be a very dynamic team.
"That might mean I have a bigger impact one night and then the next night other players will have a big impact.
"Last season I was still trying to work out how to play in the system... this season I have a better understanding of Kennedy's expectations.
"For me, I think our offence will be fine, anchoring our defence and being that calming voice on the court will be my role."
The Spirit's slow start is in direct contrast to last season when the Spirit burst out of the blocks.
However, the fast start didn't equate to success at the business end of the season - something that's not lost on Griffin.
"How we've been training hasn't translated to how we've played in games,'' Griffin said.
"It's almost as if we've been second guessing in games, but that will improve with experience and building that trust.
"We just have to trust the work we've done in pre-season and trust the process.
"We've played two very good teams that are expected to be top four teams, so that gives you a guide as to where you're at.
"Right now we're not where we want to be, but that's okay we need to make some adjustments.
"We learned last year that you can't win championships in November."
